Franklin Cudjoe Writes
Folks, you will recall l made a pledge to visit the United States of America after Donald Trump’s re-election? Well, there are other business and personal reasons that l now have to expand my itinerary to include two continents. I really look forward to speaking at the Atlas Liberty Forum Dinner in New York. I will be sharing my views on Africa’s path forward after a new wave of activism fuelled by economic misgovernance.
Now, though, the cost of my flight tickets is severely threatening my budget- and the reason is the escalating and volatile exchange rate. I now have to cough up additional thousands of cedis to match the dollar at almost 17 cedis. Still, there are no answers from the masters of the exposure of economic fundamentals to bad public policy. They are just frolicking and selling snake oil to unsuspecting voters again.
A little while ago, I received a red notice from our corporate mailing list provider that online purchases are attracting hitherto hidden charges. I knew at that moment we needed to squeeze out additional cedis to pay. Once more, the dollar has humbled the cedi- and yet again, the self-styled head hunter of the dollar had abandoned his tools and now selling apps in the virtual universe. Still no realistic plan to arresting the cedi and locking it up in jail.
Well, this wild exchange rate phenomenon contributes significantly to the economic atrophy and abysmal abyss we have sunk, junketed and financially injuncted from the rest of the normal market for trading money. It swells into narratives such as found in the Afrobarometer survey- that 87% of Ghana’s say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Still 8 out of 10 Ghanaians conclude that the country has witnessed utterly poor economic management in the last 8 years.
In other news…
Kamala Harris raised and spent $1bn on campaign ads.
Donald Trump raised and spent 388m on campaign ads.
The Democrats knew why they lost! Ignore the conspiracy theories some are throwing out there. Van Jones, a former Obama administration officer said on CNN yesterday that ” while Trump sat down with Joe Rogan, America’s most popular podcaster for 3 hours to discuss serious issues, the Democrats were mocking and laughing at him. He garned 48 million viewers on YouTube! While the Democrats were knocking on doors physically, Republican strategists were reaching millions 24/7 on their mobile phones and personal computers. When some of us warned Democratic party strategists to pay attention, they said,’we’ve got it’.
So what does a second term Trump’s presidency mean for Africa? My colleague Bright Simons notes in a recently published opinion editorial in the Africa Report, “the results under Trump’s Prosper Africa were not insignificant. The initiative reportedly closed 2,500 deals across 49 African nations, amounting to $120bn in economic value. That’s about $30bn a year – roughly in line with outcomes from Bill Clinton’s more widely known African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
In comparison, the first five years of AGOA saw US imports from Africa peaking below $10bn annually. Even in 2022, AGOA-eligible imports were just $10bn – a figure buoyed by historical averages of only $11.6bn per year over the past decade. With China buying three times and selling nearly six times as much as the US in African trade, Africa’s dependence on raw material exports to the US is on shaky ground. As the continent’s petroleum exports have declined, AGOA-enabled exports have plummeted from a 2008 peak of $66bn to just $10bn
I was at this year’s AGOA Forum for trade ministers in Washington DC, and I noticed the feeling of anxiety over existential threat to the AGOA Treaty. Africa should rally around the free trade agenda within the continent and present a united formidable front to negotiate for an extension for AGOA.
I’m available to help on both sides – America and Africa. Maybe I should see Trump.
Finally, l heard that “Elon Musk is drafting his.”What did you get done this week?” emails to the head of every Federal agency.”😜😄😜”
